


Fenders Secret Santa

by StormDragon



Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II
Genre: Gen, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-31
Updated: 2015-12-31
Packaged: 2018-05-10 14:54:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5590453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StormDragon/pseuds/StormDragon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A cave in and some unexpected bonding.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fenders Secret Santa

**Author's Note:**

> Pretty late but this is tumblr Fenders secret santa for ryuutsu.
> 
> I am sorry it took me so long, practically spent most of my holiday with relatives and away from a computer.

Fenris drifted back to wakefulness and slowly became aware of the sharp pain on the back of his head. He hissed and brought a hand up to massage the source of his discomfort as he peered at his surroundings.

 

A fresh sense of dread grew in the pit of his stomach at the sight that greeted him.

 

_ They had been caught unaware twice in the day. First by the blizzard that forced them to seek shelter. And second in the cave by the slavers that had the same idea. Unfortunately one of them wasn’t smart enough to realize what a terrible idea it was to throw a grenade at them.  _

 

Before him was an imposing wall of loose earth. 

 

“You’ve awaken. Good, Anders was beginning to worry you wouldn’t.”

 

Startled, he jumped to his feet - or more like tried to jump to his feet - smashing the top of his head against the low ceiling. He hissed and crouched low, once more nursing his head. The sharp pain in his head, help tamper down the rising panic he had been feeling. 

 

With a calmer mind, he surveyed his surroundings. Taking in the earthy prison he had found himself in. He could easily touch the ceiling from his position, not even needing to stretch his arm to it’s full length. 

 

And beside him, with barely an arm's length between them, sat Anders. No, Justice. Head tilted to the side, watching him with what seemed to be confusion. 

 

“I apologize. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

 

He huffed and scooted as far away from Justice as he could. “I was not afraid. Merely startled.” He would be damned, if he would ever show any form of weakness in front of the mage’s demon. 

 

“My presence causes you distress.”

 

Fenris scowled at the accusation. It may have been true but he would deny it ‘til the day he died. Before he could voice this denial, Justice spoke once more.

 

“Very well, since you are awake. You can keep Anders calm.”

 

“What?” 

 

“Talk to him, else the shield may falter.” Justice clarified, the fade cracks vanished and with them the tension he had felt. 

 

While Anders still a great source of annoyance for him, he could privately admit that he had grown to enjoy being able to annoy the mage back with fear of punishment. It was a refreshing change from the way the others treated him, the look in their eye like he was something to be pitied or coddled. He had survived being a slave, escaping his former master, and staying free despite all the slavers Danarius sent to retrieve him. 

 

Once Justice vanished, Fenris was surprised to see there was still a faint light outlining the rocks. Upon examination he finally understood what Justice meant by shield. A shimmer blue shield had been erected around them, protecting them from the debris that threatened to crush them. 

 

Before he could further think further, the shield flickered and a whimper came from beside him.  Justice’s words echoed in his mind and he quickly voiced the first question that came to his mind. “How long?”

 

_ How long had they been there? How long had he been unconscious? How long would the shield last? _

 

All of which he wanted to know, he just didn’t know which to ask first.

 

“I don’t know how long we’ve been here.” The mage’s feeble voice replied, “I woke up and you were there but Hawke… I haven’t-” 

 

“He’s fine.” Fenris interrupted. Uncertain if he did to stop the mage from panicking or bursting into tears. “He’s Hawke.” 

 

“I don’t think that’s very reassuring.” Anders laughs, a small and brittle thing but it is better and stronger than the voice he heard but a minute ago. 

 

“You said you woke up.” Which meant the shield hadn’t save them from being crushed. Something had happened to cause the rock to loosen and nearly kill them. “What happened while I slept?” It wasn’t just curiosity that fueled his question. Shifting the topic away from Hawke and the possibility that his luck might have finally given out.

 

Fenris could hear the mage fidgeting with coat more clearly than he did the mage’s answer, “I panicked.” It was a short answer, an odd to hear from the usually verbose mage. Who had often gone to great detail in explaining how injured Fenris was after a battle. 

 

“Panicked?” Fenris prodded. He couldn’t fault the mage for it, he certainly had the same fear just moments ago.

 

“I panicked and made things worse, alright.” Anders replied “If Justice hadn’t taken over when he did and raised the shield, we wouldn’t be talking.” 

 

Fenris frowned at Anders and decided to activate his markings, to get a clearer look of the mage. Blue light lit the small space once more and Anders sighed in relief.

 

It didn’t take long for Fenris to see what he was looking for. The mage’s hands. Dirty and broken nails with flecks of dried blood. The mage had tried to dig them out. It was a foolish thing to do when they didn’t even know how much rubble was on top of them. As disturbing the rocks could upset whatever stability they had.

 

His frowned deeped. It seemed that he may owe Justice an apology for his behavior and possibly a thank you for saving his life.

 

“I never did very well is small dark places.” The mage laughed again, more forced but just as brittle.

 

“You’re claustrophobic? Yet you live in Darktown?” Fenris pointing out. 

 

“That is different.” The mage replied defensively. “I can leave whenever I wish and it not anywhere near as cramped and dark as this.” The tips of his fingers brushed against Fenris’ arm, demonstrating just how little space there was for both of them.

 

The mage quickly snatched his hand back, “Sorry.” It sounded sincere and Anders did look like he hadn’t meant to touch him. “As I was saying, coming from the Circle. You get use to cramped spaces like closets or basically any space that can fit a minimum of two people.” 

 

Fenris pursued his lips. On one hand it was clear that Anders was starting to return to his usually verbose self, but on the other hand the mage was returning to his usually verbose self.

 

But Justice had said to talk to Anders, to keep him calm. So he carried on asking whatever question came to mind, at first he had been reluctant to speak but... Somewhere between talking about the mage’s sexual exploits and his escapes, he begun to enjoy their chatter. Poking fun at his ridiculous plans and failures, to admiring his stubbornness and brilliance of his more successful plots.

 

Not to say the conversation had been entirely one sided, Anders had been hesitant at first to ask him anything. Perhaps sharing the same desire to avoid an argument. 

 

They had laughed at a shared experience of an innkeeper selling them out to their hunters and stealing said innkeeper’s coin in retaliation. The more they spoke the more experiences it seemed they shared. 

 

The easy companionship the grew between them made their situation more bearable. But their talk was interrupted by Fenris’ stomach protesting it’s hunger.

 

They had been lucky that their flasks had survived but Anders’ pack was lost in the rubble while. Fenris pack didn’t contain much but an apple - a bit crushed - and a few strips of dried meat. Fenris had set them aside as a snack for the return trip to Kirkwall.

 

“Here.” Fenris handed the mage, half of what food he had. 

 

“I am fine. You should eat it.” Anders gently pushed Fenris’ hand away. “I didn’t lose nearly as much blood as you did in the last fight.” 

 

“Eat or you’ll truly become a fainting maiden.” Fenris insisted with a near imperceptible grin.

 

Anders glared at the elf, but his lips stretched into a smile told he wasn’t annoyed. “What still can’t believe I managed to get the templars to leave by fainting?” 

 

Fenris shook his head and pushed his hand against the mage’s chest. 

 

It had boggled Fenris that anyone could mistake Anders for anything but a man, even if he had been wearing a dress. The man was too tall, and his face was all sharp angles. The only thing soft about him were his eyes and his voice. 

 

“Perhaps one day, I’ll show you how.” Anders chuckled then nibbled on the dried meat.

 

“I look forward to it.” The words slip out of him before he realize that it had been his voice. 

 

Anders merely smiled and Fenris hoped that in the blue light, the mage could make out the flush of his cheeks. 

 

They talked until exhaustion slowly the flow of their conversation. Anders shrugged off his coat and stretched it on the ground between them. A make shift bedroll for them to share. Too tired to argue Fenris took the offer as Anders seemed reluctant to sleep alone. 

 

They slept with their backs pressed together, there was only the smallest of tension in the mage when the light of markings went out.

 

It was the sound of the rocks shifting that woke Fenris up. He shot up, his markings lit, and he listened and looked for the source of it. Anders stirred beside him, “What’s wrong?” 

 

Fenris hushed the mage and listened as the sound of the rocks falling away grew enough that even Anders could hear it. The mage’s hand griped his, shaking in fear or hope that this would be the end of their ordeal.

 

The rocks fell away and a bright smile on a familiar face greeted them. “Hey! There are my two broody babies.” 

 

“Hawke!” Both his and Anders called out.

 

The man looked like hadn’t had a proper rest in days, and when Anders and Fenris were finally freed from the earthy prison. They learned that wasn’t entirely off. 

 

They had been trapped for a day and a half. Hawke hadn’t rested for more than an hour since the collapse of the cave. He had sent Varric and his hound to get help while he remained to look for them.

 

There were a lot of people with him. A number of which had smiles on their faces when they saw Anders emerge. 

 

The cave they had pick, it seemed wasn’t far from the Bone Pit and so Varric had headed there for help. Most, if not all the miners, went to lend aid when they learn Anders was possibly trapped under rock. 

 

Hawke left the two to recover, to eat and simply rest, while he thanked everyone who helped him and promising a round of drink on him.

 

“I suppose we’ll go back to yelling now?”

Fenris shot the mage a questioning look. The man in question refused to look at him, in favor of staring at his soup.

 

“I know you were only talking to me to keep the shield up.”

 

Fenris paused and thought on his answer, “If you wish to have a yelling contest, then yes. But I doubt I would win given that you did manage to chase off templars with your shrill scream.”

 

Anders looked up from his stew, a smile on his lips and mischievous light in his eyes. “Well maybe not a screaming contest but I will keep my promise.” 


End file.
